How to properly dry garlic at home. Secrets of proper drying and storage of garlic

Garlic is a universal product that improves the taste of dishes and increases appetite. It is mainly used fresh, but when there is a lot of it, the vegetable is usually dried. There are several ways to dry garlic, each of which makes the crop convenient for further use.

Preparation

It is better to take varieties that are most suitable for drying and subsequent storage in this form, for example, Creole. Only healthy, undamaged, ripened garlic is suitable. An under-ripe vegetable will not dry well, and an over-ripe vegetable will have its cloves crumbling, which is also not good.

Advice! To determine whether garlic is ripe, pay attention to the leaves - by the time they are ready, they turn yellow, lose their elasticity and lie on the ground. By not drying the vegetable on time, there is a risk of losing part of the harvest.

Two days before digging, the garlic does not need to be watered - the earth should remain dry so that the crop does not get dirty. Garlic should be removed from the garden in dry weather; however, there is no need to pick off the leaves or trim the roots. It is not recommended to wash the vegetable before drying: it will take a very long time to dry and can quickly deteriorate.

Before drying garlic at home, you need to decide in what capacity it will be used: as a spice in powder form, prepared into dishes in slices or whole cloves.

Harvesting methods

You can dry garlic in different ways, depending on the conditions and as desired:

In conjunction

Lightly clean the ripe heads from dry soil, let them dry in good weather or in a warm room for about 8 days. Do not cut the stems, but weave them into a braid, evenly distributing the heads. If for some reason the whole stalk is not preserved, you can tie the garlic in bunches, for example, three for each. Store suspended in a dry, shaded, cool place.

In the sun

Cut the cloves in half and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil, cut side up. Dry naturally in the sun for about 7 days. However, garlic dried in this way does not last long, and the quality of the product deteriorates.

In the oven

Cut the garlic into slices and place on a baking sheet lined with foil. Preheat the oven to 60 degrees. Dry with the door ajar for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool the finished product.

In an electric dryer

Place the prepared cloves on a wire rack and turn on the electric dryer at high power. The dried seasoning product will be ready in about 6 hours.

You can make garlic powder from dried slices by simply grinding them in a coffee grinder or blender. To ensure that the powder is homogeneous, it should be sifted through a sieve. If you do not chop the plates too finely, the coarse crumbs will be more noticeable in the dish.

Advice! It is important to know not only how to dry garlic, but also how to store it correctly: it is better to put the product in glass spice jars with an airtight lid. The shelf life of dried vegetables is no more than a year.

The desire to prepare this crop for future use indicates the demand for its consumption, since the product is enriched with many useful microelements and should be present in a person’s daily diet, giving him a healthy, vigorous appearance.

Good day to all! I would like to introduce you to a popular seasoning that you can prepare at home, like I did - dried garlic! For many years I bought it in stores and markets, packaged in bright bags, and overpaid a lot of money, in addition to the fact that I bought not so much the seasoning, but monosodium glutamate in addition to it! Therefore, back in the summer, I firmly decided to make dried garlic at home, fortunately the dacha allowed me to grow several kilograms of excellent fresh garlic by September.

So, to prepare dried garlic, prepare 1 kg of garlic heads - even if you buy it, it is inexpensive during the harvest season!

Peel each head, disassemble it into slices and peel them. Then rinse each clove in water to remove dirt. On the board, cut the cloves into slices, but not across, but vertically - this way they look more attractive.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and place all the garlic slices on it. Place the baking sheet in the oven and dry the garlic with the door ajar for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Finished dried garlic slices look like this! Be careful not to overdry them, otherwise you will get a bitter aroma floating throughout the kitchen. The slices should break when pressed.

I always separate 1/4 of the entire dried mass and leave it in this form - then I stuff it into pieces of beef, pork and veal when baking.

I grind the bulk of dried garlic in a blender to dust - this product is added to soups, sauces, seasonings and rolls.

Dried garlic must be stored in containers with tight-fitting lids, otherwise all the garlic flavor will “run away” from you. I will be glad if any of you find my recipe useful. This mass lasts me for a whole year, until the next garlic harvest season!

Kira Stoletova

Garlic is one of the popular food additives that can retain its healing properties for a long time. There are several ways to prepare this seasoning, but before drying the garlic, you need to follow the cleaning rules and prepare the storage area.

Otherwise, the taste of the teeth will be lost as a result of rotting. To avoid this, you must adhere to a certain algorithm of actions.

Rules for harvesting bulbs

Digging up the crop is an integral part of preparing plants for storage. Improper harvesting of fruits can affect the integrity of the heads, which will cause rapid spoilage of the bulbs.

  • The main indicator of crop ripening is the foliage of the plant. As soon as most of it has turned yellow, the garlic can be dug up.
  • Also, to determine the ripening of the bulbs, one arrow is left on the bed. The appearance of seeds indicates the readiness of the variety.
  • Species that are planted for the winter are usually dug up closer to August. Spring varieties can ripen until mid-autumn.

Plants should be dug up as carefully as possible. First, the bulb is dug up, after which the garlic is pulled out of the ground by the base of the stem. After harvesting the garlic, the soil should be dug up and planted with green manure. If this is not done, the soil will lose many useful substances.

How to prepare crops for drying

Before drying garlic after harvesting, it should be subjected to primary processing. The heads should be cleaned from the soil by hand and dried for a week. Afterwards, the shoots and roots are removed with a knife or pruning shears, leaving a stem 2 cm long.

There are also several rules that must be followed during primary processing. These include:

  1. Preserving foliage after digging. This will allow the bulb to gain maximum nutrients after drying.
  2. Accuracy in relation to the harvest. It is not recommended to knock the heads together to shake off the soil. Any mechanical damage to the husk affects the shelf life of the bulbs.
  3. Lack of moisture. After digging, you cannot wash the garlic - this will lead to rotting of the bulbs.

These recommendations will help you properly prepare the harvest. When cleaning the heads, you can remove the top layer of husk. There are several ways to dry garlic. Their choice depends on the means at hand and the amount of harvest.

Drying outside

This type of heat treatment is the most popular because it does not require additional materials. After initial processing, the crop should be dried outside, weather permitting. The drying process can only be carried out during the day; it is better to hide the garlic at night, since the amount of precipitation increases at night.

Drying garlic lasts from three to five days. This method is also welcomed by farmers due to the increased resistance of fruits to various diseases. However, you need to monitor the sun's rays - under direct ultraviolet light, the heads can get burned.

Experts also advise not to remove excess foliage from the stem. This will keep the cloves from drying out and will increase the beneficial properties of the onion.

Drying indoors

This method of drying crops for the winter is used if the weather does not allow leaving the bulbs outside. Rooms with good air circulation are suitable for drying.

It is also desirable that the room is darkened and the air is moderately humid. For these purposes, you can use a balcony or attic.

Oven drying

In the modern world, an oven is used to dry crops in an apartment. Before drying garlic, it should be completely cleaned of excess leaves and roots, and then rinsed thoroughly under running water.

The cloves are cut into plates a couple of millimeters thick. The slices are laid out on a baking sheet, having previously covered it with parchment or foil. The plates are stacked in one row. The oven temperature should not exceed 50 degrees, otherwise the slices may burn and acquire an unpleasant brown tint. Once dried, the garlic can be ground into granules and stored as a powder. A similar method is used in industrial production, since storing the onion in powder form is convenient and practical.

Drying in an electric dryer

This method of drying garlic at home is considered the simplest, since its use minimizes the risk of spoiling the harvest. To dry garlic in an electric dryer, you should thoroughly peel it and wash it under running water for a while. After this, each clove is cut into two or three parts and placed in special containers in an electric dryer.

The slices should be laid out with the cuts facing up. This will allow the bulbs to dry out faster. Using this method, you can dry the crop in ten hours. This method takes the least time and allows you to dry a large amount of crop. Once dried, the slices can be ground and stored as a powder.

Storage at home

Before drying homemade garlic, you should prepare a place for storage during the winter. It will determine how long the harvest will last. Dried garlic can be stored for several months in an apartment or special storage areas. However, to make the cloves stronger, various additional materials should be used. The most effective are considered:

  • kitchen salt;
  • paraffin;
  • onion peel;
  • a mixture of oil and iodine.

Salt

Table salt is placed at the bottom of the jar, after which the container is filled with garlic. Add another layer of salt on top and pull a nylon cloth over the neck of the jar. In this form, the bulbs are stored for several months. You can also add a handful of wheat flour. These components remove excess moisture and help prevent the process of rotting. In addition, they protect the cloves from pests and diseases.

Despite its specific smell and pungent taste, garlic is actively used by housewives, who flavor first and second courses with it, as well as salads. Gardeners know that difficulties may arise in preserving the harvest, since garlic (especially winter garlic) can become unusable before all of it is used. The easiest way to preserve garlic is to dry it. This master class is designed to tell you how you can make dried garlic at home.

Ingredients:

Winter or spring ripened garlic in heads.


How to dry garlic for the winter in a dryer

For drying at home, select mature, clean, healthy heads of garlic with a whole shell. Garlic damaged by pests, rotten, or with sprouted cloves is rejected. Crushed heads are also discarded. After sorting and rejecting, the garlic is cleared of its hard shells. The “root-butt” is cut off on each clove. If, after all, the garlic has sprouted and you want to dry it, then you should cut out a green sprout from each clove, which is removed along with the core.


Depending on the size of the clove, it is crushed. Perhaps it is enough to simply cut the clove into two halves. You can also cut it into thin slices along or across the clove. The thinner the slice, the faster you will get dried garlic.


Sliced ​​garlic cloves are laid out in a single layer on the trays of an electric dryer. It is recommended to leave a distance between the garlic blades, which will improve air circulation during drying, which has a beneficial effect on drying time.


After loading all the trays, the dryer is closed with a lid and the device is plugged into the mains. If there is a thermostat, the temperature is set within 50-60 degrees. It is recommended to shuffle the trays once every half hour / hour. This is necessary to achieve more uniform drying of the garlic.


Dried garlic at home is left to cool on trays, after which it is packaged in well-sealed containers (jars, zipper bags, plastic containers). It is recommended to store dried garlic in a dry, cool place with good air circulation.


Surely housewives are interested in the question of how to dry garlic in the oven? After all, not everyone has a dryer. Garlic is prepared and crushed in the same way as for drying in an electric dryer. Then the plates are laid out on a baking sheet and sent to the oven, heated to 50-60 degrees. During drying, the garlic should be stirred periodically.




Garlic dried at home can be used to make a powder. Why is it passed through a coffee grinder or the dried cloves are crushed in a food processor or blender. Ground dried garlic, sealed in a container, can be stored for more than a year. You can also use it to prepare various spicy mixtures with other dried vegetables. If the garlic sometimes grinds poorly, then it should be dried (this is possible if it was initially poorly dried or was left in a room with high humidity).


Garlic salt can be made from garlic powder. Take one part garlic powder to three parts salt. It is recommended to rub meat and fish with this spicy-salty mixture before cooking. It will also add piquancy to dishes of fresh and boiled vegetables.

Prepare your own garlic! Garlic powder from the store cannot compare in aroma with the product you make yourself! Bon appetit!

Leftovers so they don't go to waste.

Chemical composition of the product

The composition of dried garlic is identical to that of fresh vegetables. Garlic contains a large amount vitamins and most useful minerals. So, dried garlic is rich in:

  • choline;
  • vitamins of group B, C, E, PP;
  • macro- and microelements: potassium, magnesium, zinc, selenium, copper and manganese, iron, cobalt, phosphorus, sodium.

Dried garlic is a natural source phytoncides, which are involved in the fight against all currently known types of pathogenic microorganisms.

Benefits and harms

Regular consumption of dried/fresh garlic has very beneficial effects on health.

Dried garlic - beneficial properties:

  • helps in the treatment of various viral diseases;
  • increases immunity;
  • provides antibacterial effects on the body;
  • participates in reducing blood levels cholesterol;
  • prevents the development of diseases cardiovascular systems;
  • reduces risk stroke and heart attack;
  • destroys helminthic infestations;
  • helps in treatment articular diseases;
  • used as an adjunct to the treatment of diseases liver;
  • warns impotence in men.

With all the advantages of the product, dried garlic contraindicated for use by people suffering from functional disorders of the digestive system, as well as in case of individual intolerance.

How to dry garlic at home?

Preparation

If you decide to dry this root vegetable, you need to choose garlic of certain bitter varieties - Silver, Creole.

The thing is that other varieties, after going through the drying process, can lose your taste, and garlic of certain varieties will remain just as aromatic and tasty.

So, before you start drying the garlic, you need to prepare it. To do this, the vegetable heads should be divided into cloves and peeled.

Important: there is an opinion that peeled garlic is necessary rinse with running water. However, this opinion is erroneous, since after such a procedure it is much more difficult to dry the product, and its shelf life is reduced.

Garlic juice has a very aggressive influence on human skin. Therefore, after the teeth have been cleaned, it is recommended to wear rubber gloves on your hands. For air drying, the prepared cloves are cut lengthwise into 2 parts.

If drying is provided in an oven or electric dryer, then cut the cloves using a sharp knife across with thin “petals”(you can use a grater to speed it up).

One of the important conditions for preparing garlic for drying is cutting it indoors. with good ventilation, since the substances contained in garlic will very soon begin to irritate the mucous membranes of the nose and throat.

Methods

Like any other product, garlic can be dried naturally or artificially.

Air drying

How to make dried garlic at home? To dry in the open sun, place the chopped garlic on a baking sheet, first covering it with parchment paper, foil or a thick, clean cloth.

It is necessary to lay out the cuttings in such a way that clove core(incision site) was looking up.

This is done so that the garlic no juice leaked out during drying and was not absorbed into the material with which the baking sheet was covered. The natural drying process lasts 5-7 days.

Oven

How to dry garlic at home in the oven? Place crushed garlic cloves in one layer on a baking sheet previously lined with baking paper or foil. Place the baking sheet in the oven, heated to 55-60°C.

Drying is carried out with the oven door slightly open for 30-40 minutes. Periodically, the garlic “petals” must be stirred so that they do not burn. After the allotted time, the garlic is removed from the oven and cooled at room temperature.

Electric dryer

How to dry garlic for seasoning in the dryer? Drying garlic in an electric dryer gives excellent results - quickly and without unnecessary hassle.

The prepared product is placed on racks and the electric dryer is turned on. at full capacity.

And already after 6-7 hours the spice is ready

How to dry garlic in an electric dryer? Tips for drying garlic at home in an electric dryer in this video:

If you are interested in how to dry at home, or, read our articles about this.

Storage

How to determine readiness? Ready dried garlic crunches and crumbles in hand.

How and where to store dried garlic at home? Dried garlic is stored in a tightly sealed container. glass containers in the refrigerator compartment. Shelf life - 3-5 months.

In order for the product didn't spoil ahead of schedule, it must be removed from the container using clean, dry cutlery.

Dried garlic can be stored the same way in powder form, for the preparation of which the dry product must be crushed with a blender, in a coffee grinder or using an ordinary hand mortar. Garlic powder can also be stored in the refrigerator.

Garlic deserves to be called a natural healer. The combination of the availability of the vegetable and its beneficial properties makes garlic very in demand product. Both fresh and dried garlic should be included in daily diet every person, bringing the aroma of health and vigor into the house.